This is a little strange. First, these researchers studied the profiles of 18-year-olds on MySpace and determined that some were talking way too much about sex and violence (these teens are products of our sex and violence culture, after all–TV, video games, movies). The researchers recommend parents create their own MySpace page and check up on their kids. Hello. These 18-year-olds are now free to move out and on, free to vote, and free to drive your car. It’s a little late to be spying on them.
Second, the article states:
“Moreno and colleagues identified 190 profiles of 18- to 20-year-olds that contained three or more references to sexual behaviors or substance abuse. The authors then made a profile of their own, called “Dr. Meg,” from which they sent a single e-mail to half these profiles, warning them about the risky information and offering information about clinical resources.
They found that, after three months, 42.1 percent of the profile owners who received the e-mail — and 29.5 percent of those who did not — either removed references to risky behaviors or made their profiles private.
The researchers took the liberty of chastising these young adults? Isn’t that…ummm….out-of-line for a researcher? They’re not the moral police, too, are they?
I must admit I’m surprised that one got passed an ethics committee….although it’s equally surprising that so many users reacted the way they did
I have mixed feelings about this.
On one hand, a lot of people don’t realize or think about the consequences of posting personal information online. I can tell you this; when I get ready to interview and speak with my firm’s interns and potential new hires, I always google them and try to see what I can find. If I come up with something that I think may be cause for concern, I would raise that up to HR.
In this way; there is some good that comes from helping people be more aware of their online presence.
On the other hand, people should have a right to privacy and to express themselves.
On a personal note; I have had managers and senior managers at my firm try to “facebook” me. I have turned down every single invite. =) If you want to have a private life, you have to work to keep it private!
David,
I originally thought so too.
When I conducted human research on usability for some software I wrote, I had to fill out a ton of forms and detail the impact on test subjects.
I found this a little absurd since I was just asking people to click buttons.
My guess would be that the researchers made their case by explaining that no harm could reasonably occur and also copy and paste the exact wording of the email to be sent. It would take a while, but if the ethics committee had reasonable assurance against harm and that no ethics are being violated (privacy doesn’t really apply since it’s publicly available information).
Sure, it would take like 6 months to get a human subject testing committee to signoff on this kind of research, but it’s entirely possible with some persistence and being very very careful. =)
I agree with you…18-20 year olds are not “kids” anymore and even referring to them as “teens” is misleading. I moved out the day of my 18th birthday and was married by the time I was 19. If my folks or any authority figure had tried to tell me what to do at that point they would have been met with quite the barrage of laughter.
I find the premise of the study to be kinda stupid. We let 18 year olds vote and die in our wars and be sent to prison for adult crimes but somebody assumes we have a right to tell them that their Myspace profiles are too risque??? Pul-eese!
I’m with you lalibertina. 18-20 year olds are young adults–they die in our wars. It seems crazy to spy on them like this. It seems controlling.
I moved out at 18, too, and never again lived with my parents. My folks then moved out of state. I can’t imagine them treating me like this, and I’m not sure they really would even care about a MySpace page, if I had one.
I think it might somehow be linked to the recent phenomenon of “Helicopter Parenting.”
OK Dave, so now I’m a little curious–Do you not want your coworkers to see your Facebook page because there’s another side of you?
Or do you just have really good boundaries?
Dam,
Both, although I could narrow it down to two good examples.
1) I have a very odd sense of humor that I’ve learned doesn’t always translate very well. My friends understand me, but I could see how a co-worker may not. I don’t want to create a false perception mainly.
2) I have a 2 and a half year old son that I love dearly. I have tons of pictures of him on my Facebook page. I’m also not married and I never have been. I travel 2 hours each way almost every single weekend (and have for 3 years) to visit him and say hi to his mommy. My son was an “accident” with a childhood friend, but being a good Dad is the most important thing I’ll ever do with my life. Trying to communicate this to co-workers is difficult. There are alot of questions and honestly I’d rather not have that kind of distraction, or worse, the risk of rumors. Again, my good personal friends know about it and understand.
I also work for one of the Big 4 Accounting firms. The culture is pretty traditional and in some cases conservative. I’d rather avoid the sometimes negative (and false) perceptions people have of non-traditional families.
I had mixed feelings about this too. After all I agree with the same thing that has been said here, they are adults. However, the attention that is given to children and their myspace pages (and that parents need to watch them) is a good lesson. The ages just aren’t right…
I don’t know why but in addition to watching my daughter on her myspace I also get the pleasure of watching all her friends. I actually got in trouble with some people as their daughter had pictures on her myspace in which she was in her bra and panties, attempting to look sexy. I told her parents, I was the one in the dog house. Lesson learned, but it was a sad lesson…
Yikes. I cannot believe that parents would be angry with you for telling them. I would appreciate a head’s up!